Leave the Nightmare Behind
by Pudding and Candy
Summary: After escaping the Jail and trying to adapt to life back upon the surface, Red Riding Hood thinks about her identity and her purpose, especially with the revelation somebody once important to her in the past.


**Disclaimer:** Mary Skelter's rights are with Idea Factory and Compile Heart.

* * *

It was another cold night on the surface, and right in the middle of the night Red Riding Hood woke up in cold sweat again, having just seen a recurring dream. It was always the same dream: Snark taunting her own existence as a tool. Of course, Red Riding Hood knew that this Snark was really the one who she called "Dad" once and the whole truth behind his betrayal had left Red Riding Hood with heavily conflicted emotions.

Red Riding Hood had got up from her resting place to get some fresh air. Since escaping the Jail, everybody had been trying to settle down to life on the surface. For the most part, the surrounding areas from where the city from the Jail sunk had been abandoned, seeing as how most people would be frightened away after such a scary incident with a city sinking. Still, not every part is abandoned, but so far the party has not had any luck with getting large scale communications and so decided to stay together in the meantime.

Looking upwards to the real moon, Red Riding Hood continually thought about how it all ended with the Professor, for almost her entire life she spent for the Professor and did everything for him because he took care of her from infancy. Yet, if the Professor in his true form of Snark, had been known to be involved with the Jail's growth since the beginning, how much of his parental love was actually real? Or perhaps he was truly an alien monster and forged Red Riding Hood's whole life as a lie. The answers continue to elude the Blood Maiden, nothing was certain anymore, despite escaping from the Jail into freedom.

Yet, no matter the situation, Red Riding Hood found herself having to be strong, because she was the leader for the rest of the Blood Maidens after all. Or at least _appearing_ strong was what she was good at, but the reality had been that she was unsure what to do with herself since escaping the Jail. After all, any personality she developed was also part of being raised by "Dad" and knowing that it was all just a charade at the end really left her with an empty feeling. Slowly Red Riding Hood fell down on the grass and silently cried, nobody would really understand how it was to live a life that was later to be found built on lies and deceit.

At the same time, there was also somebody else that had woken up in the middle of the night and took notice that Red Riding Hood was by herself. "Red Riding Hood?" Said the voice, clearly belonging to Jack.

Red Riding Hood did not respond, she just wanted to be left alone and hide away. Still, there was no really hiding her tear-stained face under the moon light here. Slowly she turned to face Jack, her face solemn while in her thoughts about herself and her own existence at this point.

"Wha-? Hey are you all right?" Jack said as he noticed the unusual expression Red Riding Hood had on her face.

"Jack, I don't how much longer I can keep this up. I always try to be there for everybody, but after everything that happened with Dad, it just feels like that everything I ever did and all that I am is a lie. I don't even know what to do from here on, all my life I've been trying to help Dad, and I didn't want to believe it, but in the end I was just being used and that's it..." Red Riding Hood explained, unable to keep her face straight through the painful truth.

"(It looks like she's really affected by the Professor's betrayal, I don't blame her, from when she was found until now the Professor did use her as a means to accomplish his goals...)" Jack thought, having understood that Red Riding Hood could only keep things up with everybody else for so long. "Well, I'm sorry about all that's happened. I didn't want to believe the Professor had those intentions, but... if it's about who you are, then just start fresh from here on and be yourself. Besides, you won't be alone, I did say we'd share each other's burdens didn't we?"

"Jack, Thank you... but right now... I just feel empty."

"That's all right, I haven't figured out everything yet either on what to from now on. But this is only the beginning of our new story, so..." Jack replied, and slowly reach out his arms around unusually fragile frame of Red Riding Hood and pulling her closer to himself.

"Jack..."

"It's... all right, I am here for you," Jack said, even though he was trying to hide the embarrassment of doing something unusual like this. After all, normally Red Riding Hood would be fine and prefer not to have such close contact, but this time it was different.

Red Riding Hood also held onto Jack, enjoying the close comfort in the moment, and not having to care for anything right now. For the longest time, she had been trying to keep everybody else together despite all that she faced, but just this one time, she's allowing herself to be vulnerable, and to be open with herself. After what seems a long time with holding each other, Jack spoke up again, wondering if Red Riding Hood had fallen asleep while he held her.

"Red Riding Hood, are you awake? We've been-" Jack managed to say before Red Riding Hood interrupted him by gently pushing him down on the soft grassy floor with herself laying down beside him as well. From here, Jack could see that Red Riding Hood was also blushing but now even more so catching a glimpse of her face under the moonlight.

"Jack, let's stay like this for a bit longer..." Red Riding Hood responded, smiling at him while Jack obliged with her request.

After all, there was nothing better than spending time with someone important to him, but Jack only hopes they do not end up falling asleep and being found out early in the morning.


End file.
